Filling head and method of making same



May 5,1959 R. H. BREEBACK 2,384,685

FILLING HEAD AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed se i. 28, 1955 s as F"* 4a I L.I g l I 46 36 42 v so Q I I2 I INVENTOR OVEN 5 RUDOLPH H. BREEBACK v ATTORNEYS FIG. 3.

United States Patent 2,884,686 FILLING IEAD AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Rudolph Henry Breeback, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of New York Application September 28, 1955, Serial No. 537,167 11 Claims. (Cl. 29157.1)

The present invention relates to a valve and the method of making the same and, more particularly, the invention relates to a filling valve of a filling head for filling containers.

Filling machines of the type used in filling containers such as bottles or cans are normally provided with a plurality of filling heads, each having a disk type filling valve therein. Containers are normally brought into sealing engagement with the filling heads and the disk type filling valves are then rotated to various positions to align various fluid passages in the valve body during the filling cycle. For example, in filling a carbonated beverage such as beer or the like, the valve body of a filling head is provided with liquid and gas passages which communicate conduits from the filling machine reservoir with the valve seat and liquid and gas passages which communicate the interior of the container with the valve seat. A disk valve element having a seat face cooperating with the valve seat of the valve body is provided with liquid and gas passages adapted to align the liquid and gas passages in the valve body. In other words, the disk valve element is rotated to first align suitable passages in the valve body so as to place the container under counter pressure and then the disk valve element is rotated to align liquid and vent passages in the valve body so as to fill the container while gas within the container is vented.

In United States Patent No. 2,202,033, issued May 28,

1940, to Robert J. Stewart and Wiltie I. Gladfelter, such a filling head as described above, is disclosed. The valve body of the filling head is provided with a circular recess in which a gasket member, made up of a rubber disk element and a lather disk element is inserted, the leather disk element providing the valve seat for cooperating with the seat face of the disk valve element. Since fluids, such as liquid and gas, are flowed through the filling head, at pressures normally in excess of atmospheric pressure, leaks would often occur between the valve seat of the leather disk and the seat face of the disk valve unless the valve seat and seat face were perfectly matched.

An object of the present invention is to provide a filling head with a filling valve having an improved seal between the valve body and the movable valve element, the seal being such as to eliminate leaks even though the filling valve is subject to high pressures.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a filling head wherein the valve seat of the packing is formed while the packing is positioned in the valve body.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved packing for and a method of installing in the filling valve of a filling head.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a micro-finish on the seat face of a leather packing or gasket used in a disk valve. Heretofore leather packings or gaskets used in valves as a seating material were merely finished to have a flat surface, but such a surface ice could be as much as .01 to .015 inch out of parallel with out being detected by the human eye. The present method of finishing the seating surface of the leather packing insures a micro-finish to the surface and, thereby, eliminating leaks between the seating surface of the packing and the cooperating lapped surface of the valve.

These and other objects of the present invention will appear more fully in the following specification, claims and drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of the filling head of the present invention, portions of the filling valve body being omitted;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of the filling head disclosed in Figure l and showing the lower portion of the filling valve body in elevation;

Figure 3 is a view illustrating the forming of the valve seat on the packing or gasket positioned in the valve body of the filling head.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like character or reference numerals represent like or similar parts, the filling head, generally designated by the numeral 10 and disclosed in Figures 1 and 2, is of the type for use with a rotary filling machine such as disclosed in the aforementioned Stewart et al. patent. The filling head 10 includes a valve body 12, which is adapted to be connected to the periphery of a reservoir carrying superstructure of a filling machine and a disk valve element 14 rotatably supported on the valve body 12. Valve body 12 is made up of an upper body portion 16 and a usually detachable lower body portion 18. A container (not shown) is adapted to sealingly engage lower body portion 18 for filling. Such containers may be bottles or cans, the lower body portion 18 being structurally designed to receive one or the other.

As best shown in Figure 2, valve body 12 is provided with a circular recess 20 in which a packing element 22 is positioned. The packing element 22 is provided with a valve seat face 24 on which a seat face 26 of disk valve element 14 bears against for rotation with respect thereto. Disk valve element 14 is rotatably supported on a valve stem 28, which projects centrally and axially of the recess 20. Valve stem 28, which is threadedly received in valve body 12, is also threaded at its outer end to receive a nut 30 which retains disk valve element 14 of the valve stem. An anti-friction member 32 is interposed between the nut 30 and the disk valve element 14 so that the seat face 26 of the disk valve element will bear against the valve seat face 24 of valve body 12 with the proper pressure to prevent leaks while permitting rotation of the disk valve element with respect to the valve body.

Suitable liquid and gas flow passages 30, terminating in alignment with apertures provided in packing 22, are provided in valve body 12 and are adapted to be aligned or nonaligned with passages in the disk valve element 14 by rotational movement of the disk valve through the several positions shown in Figure 1. For example, if the filling head is utilized on a filling machine for filling containers with beer, the disk valve, when in a position A, is closed and none of the gas and liquid passages 30 are aligned. When the disk valve 14 moves to a position B, shown in broken lines in Figure 1, by suitable trip means in the filling machine (not shown), gas passages between the seat face 24 of filling head 12 and a suitable source of gas pressure will be aligned with gas passages in the filling head leading from its seat face to the container and, thus, placing the container under counter pressure. After a container is placed under counter pressure, disk valve element 14 moves to a position C, wherein liquid passages in valve body 12 extending from a source of liquid to the seat face thereof are aligned with liquid passages in the valve body extending from its seat face to the container.

assesses 3 During the filling stage, suitable gas passages in the valve body are aligned so that the container can be vented of the counter pressure gas while liquid is flowing into the container.

Referring in more detail to Figure 2, it will be noted that recess in valve body 12 is provided with an undercut annular groove 34 into which gasket or packing 22 extends. Further, valve stem 28 is provided with an undercut annular groove as indicated at 36, the undercut groove 36 being in ali nment with annular groove 34. It will be further noted that gasket 22 also extends into the undercut groove 36 in the completed assembly of the filling head.

Gasket or packing 22 consists of a rubber disk 38 which bears against the bottom surface of recess 20 and a leather disk 40 on which the valve seat 24 is formed. Rubber disk 38 is made of any suitable rubber compound which is nontoxic, resistant to detergents, and which has a normal resiliency. Leather disk 40 is treated with a nontoxic wax prior to positioning in the valve body. As mentioned above, in the past the leather disk used as a valve seat was merely dressed smooth to thereby insure a minimum degree of friction between it and the disk valve, the sealing action between the leather disk and the seat face of the disk valve element depending mainly on the pressure exerted on the leather disk by the seat face of the disk valve element. The present invention contemplates as will be subsequently described in detail, the forming of a seat face on the leather disk which will form a seal with the seat face of the disk valve element when contiguous therewith and thereby resulting in reducing the amount of pressure required between the seat face of the disk valve element and the leather disk to maintain a proper seal while permitting easy rotation therebetween.

Referring now to Figure 3, it will be noted that when gasket 22, formed of rubber and leather disks 38 and 49, respectively, is originally positioned within recess 20 adjacent the annular grooves 34 and 36 in the recess and stem respectively, its outside diameter is slightly less than the diameter of the groove 34, whereas its inside diameter 42 is slightly greater than the diameter of the undercut or annular groove 36 of stem 28. To form a microfinished valve seat on the leather disk at), a suitable platen 44 having a micro-finished, lapped surface 46 is placed on stem 28 with the surface 46 hearing against the leather disk 40. A nut 48 is then threaded on to stem 28 to cause platen 44 to tightly hold gasket 22 in position in recess 20 adjacent the grooves 34 and 36. Platen 44 holds gasket 22 tightly in place as shown in Figure 3, but 1 necessary to have the lower portion 18 of valve body 1 attached to the upper portion 16 when baking gasket 2?. is in the recess of upper portion 16. The assembly is allowed to bake at about 300 F. for about minutes so that heat may penetrate the metal mass of the platen and valve body and soften the wax-treated leather disk so that it flows radially outwardly and inwardly to fill the grooves 34 and 36 and assumes the contour of the micro-finished surface 46 of platen 4-4. After proper baking, the assembly is removed from the oven and nut 48 is rechecked to make sure the platen is still firmly pressing against gasket 22. After checking nut 48 for tightness and tightening if necessary, the hot platen and valve body assembly are immediately quenched in cold water until such time that the wax and leather of waxtreated disk 40 have assumed their original hardness.

Platen 44 is removed from the valve body and a thin coating of an odorless, tasteless and nontoxic grease is applied to the valve seat surface 24 formed on the leather disk 40. The grease removes any loose dirt from the valve seat of packing 22.

Disk valve element 14, which is provided with a seat face 26, is ready to be assembled onto valve body 12, thus forming the filling head. However, it will be understood that prior to assembly of disk valve element 14 onto the stem of valve body 12, the seat face 26 of the disk valve element is hydro-lapped to a micro-finish so that it corresponds to the micro-finished valve seat 26 molded in the leather disk 40 of packing 22.

By manufacturing a filling head as described above, the filling valve of the filling head is provided with a rnicro-finished valve seat capable of maintaining a tight seal with the seat face of the disk valve with a minimum of pressure being applied between the two elements. Further, the method of making the valve seat face on the leather disk of the packing provides a means of retaining the gasket in place in the valve body. In other words, by providing the grooves 34 and 36 recess 20 and stem 28, respectively, and permitting the gasket to flow radially inwardly and outwardly, the gasket is locked or anchored in position in the valve body.

It will of course be understood that it is within the scope of the invention to mount the leather packing in the valve disk and lap the mating surface of the valve body, the disk being provided with a recess adapted to receive the packing and the valve body.

The terminology used in the specification is for the purpose of description and not limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. A method of manufacturing a filling head of the type having a valve body element with passages therein and a disk valve element carried by a valve stem and rotatable with respect to the valve body for aligning passages in the valve body element, one of the elements having its seat face received in a circular recess provided in the other, the steps comprising: providing an annular groove in the peripheral wall of the recess of the element adapted to receive the seat face of the other element, positioning a wax-treated leather gasket of smaller diameter than the annular groove into the recess adjacent the groove, utilizing a lapped surface to firmly position the gasket in the recess adjacent the groove, baking the gasket and element at a temperature sufiicient to cause the leather and wax to soften and flow to thereby assume the shape of the lapped surface and fill the groove in the recess of the element, quickly quenching the gasket and element in cold water to harden the leather and wax to its original hardness, removing the lapped surface from the gasket and element, lapping the seat face of the other element, and then assembling the elements together with the lapped seat face of the last mentioned element bearing against the formed seat face of the wax-treated leather gasket of the first mentioned element.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein baking of the gasket and first mentioned element is at a temperature of about 300 F. for about 30 minutes.

3. The method of claim 1 including the step of applying grease to the formed seat face of the wax-treated leather gasket after the gasket has been baked and quenched in cold water to remove any loose dirt therefrom.

4. A method of manufacturing a filling head of the type having a valve body element with passages therein and a disk valve element carried by a valve stem and rotatable with respect to the valve body for aligning passages in the valve body, one of the elements having its seat face received in a circular recess provided in the other, the steps comprising: providing an annular groove in the wall of the recess of the element adapted to receive the seat face of the other element, positioning a Waxtreated leather gasket of smaller diameter than the annular groove into the recess adjacent the groove, utilizing a lapped surface to firmly hold the gasket in the recess adjacent the groove, heating the gasket and element at a temperature sufficient to cause the leather and wax to soften and assume the shape of the lapped surface and fill the groove in the recess ofthe element, checking pressure of the lapped surface against the gasket after heating to assure the gasket is still firmly positioned in the recess of the element, quickly quenching the gasket and element in cold water to harden the leather and wax to its original hardness, removing the lapped surface from the gasket and element, lapping the seat face of the other element, and then assembling the elements together with the lapped seat face of the last mentioned element bearing against the formed seat face of the wax-treated leather gasket of the first mentioned element.

5. A method of manufacturing a filling head of the type having a valve body with a circular recess therein and a valve stem extending axially of the recess, a disk valve carried by the valve stem and rotatable with respect to the valve body for aligning passages in the valve body, the steps comprising: providing an annular groove in the peripheral wall of the recess in the valve body, providing an annular groove on the valve stem in alignment with the annular groove in the peripheral wall of the recess, positioning a wax-treated leather gasket of smaller diameter than the annular groove on the valve stem into the recess adjacent the grooves, utilizing a lapped surface to apply a predetermined pressure for firmly holding the gasket in the recess adjacent the groove, baking the gasket and valve body at a temperature sufficient to cause the leather and wax to softenaand thereby assume the shape of the lapped surface and fill the groove in the recess and valve stem, quickly quenching the gasket and valve body in cold water to harden the leather and wax to its original hardness, removing the lapped surface from the gasket and valve body, treating the gasket with a nontoxic grease to remove dirt from the seat face formed thereon, lapping the seat face of the disk valve, and then assembling the disk valve onto the stem of the valve body so that the lapped seat face of the disk valve bears against the formed seat face of the leather gasket of the valve body.

6. The method of claim wherein heating of the gasket and the valve body is at a temperature of about 300 F. for about minutes.

7. A method of forming a seat face on a leather gasket used to provide a seal in a valve between movable elements thereof, the steps comprising: placing a wax-treated leather gasket in position on one element, utilizing a lapped surface to firmly hold the gasket in position on the element, baking the gasket and element at a temperature sufficient to cause the wax-treated leather gasket to soften and assume shape of the lapped surface, and cooling the gasket while the gasket is still held in position on the element by the lapped surface to harden the gasket to its original hardness.

8. A method of forming a seat face in a valve between movable elements thereof, the steps comprising: providing a recess in one valve element, placing a waxtrcated leather gasket of size slightly smaller than the recess into the recess of the element, utilizing a lapped surface to firmly hold the gasket in position in the recess of the element, baking the gasket and the element at a temperature sufficient to cause the wax-treated leather gasket to soften and assume the shape of the lapped sur' face and fill the recess of the element, and quickly cooling the gasket while still held in position on the element by the lapped surface to harden the gasket to its original hardness.

9. A method of forming a seat face in a disk valve of the type having a valve body element and a disk element rotatable with respect to the body element, the steps comprising: providing a circular recess in one element for rotatably receiving the other element, undercutting the wall of the recess to provide an annular groove therein, positioning a wax-treated leather gasket of smaller diameter than the diameter of the annular groove into the recess and adjacent the groove, utilizing a lapped surface to firmly hold the gasket in position in the recess adjacent the groove, baking the gasket and element at a temperature sufficient to cause the wax and leather of the gasket to soften and flow to thereby assume the shape of the lapped surface and fill the groove in the recess, and then quickly quenching the gasket and element in cold water to thereby harden the wax and leather of the gasket to its original hardness.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the baking of the gasket and element is at a temperature of about 300 F.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the baking of the gasket and element is at a temperature of about 300 F. for about 30 minutes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,026,457 Reynolds May 14, 1912 1,593,719 Gouldbourn July 27, 1926 2,034,829 OMalley Mar. 24, 1936 2,058,715 OMalley Oct. 27, 1936 2,377,166 Mayer May 29, 1945 2,649,112 Barnett et al. Aug. 18, 1953 2,696,363 Monson Dec. 7, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 130,792 Australia Jan. 6, 1949 

